The Boys’ Club of New York

The Boys’ Club has some awesome features: the staff is very dedicated, involved and understanding of boys growing into men one day. They have many physical activities which is so necessary for young boys. There’s a dedicated & wonderful music program (i.e. private music lessons) and let’s not forget it’s FREE. They have so many corporate sponsors that what they don’t get in fees from parents does not effect the programs they offer the boys. There can’t be any perfect program. This is not a place for the uptight, upper middle class parent– too loud, too busy, too neighborhood. The Boys’ Club is a loud place with a few kids that can be menacing and problems, but for the real most part — it’s full of boys with a healthy amount of boy energy.

Well, the Boys’ Club exists for the boys of the neighborhood; I’ve heard from several people they couldn’t have raised their sons without its being there for after-​school programs and such. Even Jim Carroll participated in its programs when he lived on the Lower East Side as a kid, but trouble had a way of finding him.
They have community programs as well; they’ve also hosted panel discussions of local political candidates, which I’ve attended. Today they had a flea market, which unfortunately couldn’t compete with the one that happens every weekend at the Mary Help of Christians parking lot a block away.
The Boys’ Club has been an important community resource for over 100 years, and is always expanding its programs in fitness, health, and nutrition.